May I Not Be Ashamed

When I was a kid at camp we used to sing a song taken from Psalm 25 called “Unto Thee O Lord.” There’s a line from that Psalm that says “let me not be ashamed.” I always understood that to mean help me not to sin so I won’t be ashamed, but I misunderstood that.
According to Strong’s Bible Dictionary the Hebrew word implies being ashamed but at the same time it also implies being disappointed or let down. But what or who is he asking to not be ashamed and disappointed in? In a word, God. In the line immediately before that he states that he has placed his trust in God and later in the Psalm he implies, as Isaiah 28:16 affirms, that no one who places their trust in God will ever be put to shame.
What does it mean to be ashamed of God? Maybe this will help. I’m a huge Edmonton Eskimo fan and this year, as always, I have placed my trust in the Eskimos to win. If you know anything about the CFL this year you can see where this is going. I have been ashamed and disappointed, particularly in front of my “enemy”: Calgary Stampeder fans.
So when he says no one who puts their trust in God will ever be put to shame does that mean that I’ll always “win” in life? That God fixed all of the writer’s (David) problems? Not if you look towards the end of the Psalm. He was lonely and afflicted, he was in anguish and the troubles of his heart had multiplied. He was in distress, his enemies had increased and they hated him fiercely. Some of you are saying that it kinda sounds like your life.
We would like our stories to end “and they lived happily ever after,” but in this life there will always be more adversity. So what David is telling us is that his trust is in God and there is no circumstance, adversity, or even tragedy that can cause him to be disappointed in God.
I think we have sometimes given the idea that if you pray hard enough, and trust God that he will make your life all better. That’s wrong. But if you are more desperate for Jesus than you are to be free of your worst problems, heartaches, and pain he promises you will not be ashamed. There are greater things at stake than your life getting fixed: Jesus, your relationship with him, and eternity. And it starts now.

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About David Berg

I live in a small town in Alberta, Canada. I pastor a small Baptist church and also work half-time on a local seed farm. It has been more than 25 years that I have been married to a most amazing and beautiful lady whose name is Wendy. Together we have three boys, and two beautiful daughter-in-laws.
View all posts by David Berg

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 6th, 2013 at 9:19 pm and posted in Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

5 responses to “May I Not Be Ashamed”

Oh – VERY well put, David. “But if you are more desperate for Jesus than you are to be free of your worst problems, heartaches, and pain he promises you will not be ashamed.” That is transformational information. Basis for your next sermon, I gather?

Thanks Markus. Actually it’s the basis for a sermon from last fall. I’m not sure how this came up other than I was looking through some old ones to use for this week’s newspaper. I didn’t have time to write a new one. lol